LOOK: Search for rightful Beneficiaries of unclaimed Pension Funds

The Eastern Cape Department of Transport has stated it is searching for rightful beneficiaries of the unclaimed Government Employee Pension Fund for 60 deceased employees.

BENEFICIARIES OF UNCLAIMED PENSION FUND DATES FAR BACK

The Eastern Cape Department of Transport says some of the deceased employees with unclaimed benefits passed on as far back as 2005, with the latest of the deceased having passed on in 2020.

“The youngest of the deceased employees was born in 1970 with the oldest being born in 1940.”

Eastern Cape Department of Transport

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EASTERN CAPE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT PROVIDES FURTHER INFORMATION

The Eastern Cape Department of Transport indicated that the majority of the deceased employees were working within the road infrastructure unit of the department, working on fixing roads across the province.

“The search is to ensure that the rightful beneficiaries of the deceased employees’ hard-earned pensions, come forward to claim them. The department believes that in these tough economic times, this may come as a much-needed relief to the families of some of the 60 deceased employees, who may not even be aware of these unclaimed benefits,” the department reached out.

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Mondaq explains the steps that might follow when a dependant comes forward to claim the benefits.

What are the trustees’ obligations upon the death of the member?

Section 37C of the Act provides for the following procedure:

The pension fund must within 12 months of the death of a member pay the benefit to the member’s dependants of whom they are aware of or traced;

• if the pension fund does not trace or become aware of any dependants, it shall pay the benefit to the member’s nominees or nominated beneficiaries in the proportion specified by the member in writing;
• the pension fund has a discretion to pay benefits to any dependants or nominees in proportions;
• if no dependant can be traced, the pension fund will pay the pension benefit to the deceased member’s estate; and
• interim payments may be made to minor dependants or minor nominees provided that interest is added to the balance owing to such dependant or nominee.

NB: The trustees of a pension fund are obliged to conduct an investigation to determine how many dependants the deceased member has. It is only after an investigation has been conducted that the trustees may pay the pension benefit to the dependants in proportions decided by the trustees in their discretion.